The present invention relates to a system for the test and analysis of lung functions or other breathing functions of people or animals, in particular pre-school children. The system is equipped with one or several spirometric sensors and with an output medium affecting the psyche and/or the nervous system of the subjects, which receives stimulating or animated displays or other data from a patterns source.
Spirometry is one of the cornerstones of pulmonary disease diagnostics. Its value was proven for children aged 6 and over. The patient, however, must comply with strict requirements. He must learn to take a breath as deep as possible, and upon order to blow out with all of his strength, until all air is expelled. This familiar spirometric system is designed for grownups, without paying attention to the apprehensions of children confronted by all this.
Pre-school children below 6 years of age are not normally conscious of breathing. In their instinctive respiratory processes they cannot distinguish between inhaling and exhaling. Pre-school children cannot be expected to respond when requested to take as deep a breath as possible and then to breath out with all their strength until as much air as possible is expelled. They can also hardly be persuaded to willingly collaborate in the procedures of spirometry and to undertake a considerable training effort beforehand, because they are too young for active cooperation of such extent. Apart from that, pre-school are frightened of the spirometer device.
A partial spirometry procedure is also known, which is based on subjective stimulation of inspiration or expiration in the patient. The patient is prompted by stimuli to a powerful and drawn-out expiration, but without regard for the preceding and succeeding intake of breath. This intake of breath, however is critical for correct measurement. The prompting is based on the patient""s instinct, marked in particular among children, to draw a deep breath before the air is strongly blown out, for example in order to win a game (such as blowing out candles, jumping high, etc.). Such respiratory activities provide no certainty as to whether the child did or did not previously inhale the maximum quantity of air.
Accordingly, the present invention addresses the task of further developing breath-testing and analysis systems so that lung functions and breathing activities can also be reliably measured and analyzed in the case of pre-school children.
The proposed solution according to this invention is a test and analysis system of the kind mentioned in the introduction, in which the sensor or sensors are provided at their outputs with one or several filters which are controlled by the pattern source to which they are coupled on their output side and which permit further processing of the measured values included in the control signals, so that the date going out from the pattern source to the output medium depend on the input provided by breathing action or breathing state.
By means of this invention the pre-school may be unwittingly made to take a deep breath prior to the expiration to be measured, whereby the air quantity or the air volume inspired is also measured. The inventive idea consists in guiding breathing beings, in particular pre-school children or handicapped children, to perform correct lung-function activities by exposing them to an effective output medium, for example displaying animated graphics. Inspiratory air volume, volume flow and respiratory disturbances are registered by the sensors and in turn affect the filter or filters of the output medium, such as the animated pictures on a screen, which the pre-school child follows in the course of measurement. The patterns displayed on the output medium before the pre-school child or other living being, such as moving figures on a screen, may be configured in known manner so that the respiration of the child is positively affected. A particular advantage can be realized if the child or other living being is presented with stimuli on the output medium, for instance in the form of animated graphics, which are embedded in a story of suitable context these being interactively controlled by the respiration of the child via the sensors, filters and eventually the associated computer. The stories provided on the output medium may also be of educational value for the child.
Another advantage achieved by the invention is that a complete spiromteric process is realized, since not only the expiration but also the inspiration is recorded. This provided a basis for the analysis of tidal respiration and the performance of a bronchial stimulation test.
It would be useful to hook up a processor to the filter outputs. Such processor would control a storage medium serving as the source for the patterns provided to the output medium. The stored data may contain patterns which correspond to stimuli or animations rooted in the children""s world. It would thus be possible to make pre-school children take separate respiratory activity. The games may require the solution of problems of different degree of difficulty, whereby the solution of such a problem is suitable rewarded. The stimulating patterns may be arranged to form a story with due regard for the limited concentration time of the child, which would facilitate the collaboration required for bronchial stimulation.
In order to reduce the terrifying aspects of the analysis and test system and enhance the participation and readiness to cooperate of the patient, it is useful in the case of pre-school children to construct the system sub-assemblies (mouthpieces, lung tachographs, etc.) so as to suit the stature, strength and spirit of pre-school children.